


I Know It's Hard Sometimes (It's Fun to Fantasize)

by ghstgrl



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: AU, Best Friends, First Times, High School, LGBT, M/M, high school joshler, joshler - Freeform, the smut doesnt happen till later, this is good i swear, virgins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 05:34:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9977144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghstgrl/pseuds/ghstgrl
Summary: High school is a rocky road, especially when you're in love with your best friend.





	1. Chapter 1

Tyler was laying on his bed, stomach-down, with Josh laying across his back, perpendicular to him. They were both doing something: Tyler was reading his book for school, and Josh was messing around on his flip-phone. They did this a lot - after homework, they'd just bum around and enjoy each other's company. Tyler turned a page of his book, heaving a sigh. Well, he tried to - Josh was heavy. (Secretly, Tyler enjoyed his reassuring warmth and weight, though.) 

 

"Oh, can you not breathe? I'm sorry," Josh said with a sheepish little laugh and an apologetic smile as he propped himself up on his arms, phone in one hand. He moved down further Tyler's back, lying down essentially on his ass, so as to free up his lungs. Tyler grunted in appreciation, turning another page. He hated this book - Lord of the Flies was so depressing and, really, Tyler didn't need more of that in his life. He tossed his book to the side and groaned, flopping his head down in his pillow. Maybe, if he stayed like this long enough, he'd suffocate. That'd be a solution to most of his problems. 

 

He felt a gentle hand in his hair, though, and it fisted in it, pulling softly. 

 

"Hey," Josh's muffled voice said through the pillow. "Don't do that. You'll suffocate and then who will I suffer through Chemistry with?" 

 

Tyler felt a shiver dance down his spine at Josh's light tugging on his hair, and he pushed himself up out of the pillow with his arms. The hand was removed from his hair. Tyler was almost sorry. He turned around as much as he could, what with being on his stomach and what with Josh being on his bottom half. What he saw was a smiling Josh (God, his _smile_ ), but with a genuinely concerned look in his eyes. Tyler kind of wanted to hug him. 

 

"Oh, you'll find someone, I'm sure. What about Debby? Her locker is a row away from yours and she's in Chemistry, too," Tyler reasoned, but Josh shook his head, his dark curls falling in his mocha eyes. 

 

"No, I don't want to brave Chemistry with Debby, 'cause she's not my best friend like you are. Besides, I don't even know her that well, you know? I mean, I've said hi a few times, but...nah, nope," Josh said, moving off of Tyler's ass and plopping down right next to him. Josh grinned at Tyler, putting his hand on Tyler's shoulder for a minute before retracting it and going back to his phone. Tyler rolled his eyes fondly and tried to fight down the blush he got whenever he was near Josh. It was an inconvenience, really; it happened _every single time_ Tyler was within three feet of Josh. Was this normal for best friends? Somehow, Tyler didn't think so. 

 

Tyler sighed and picked up his book again, reading the first line, but not taking anything in. He tried reading it over and over, but he got nowhere and his brain just couldn't take anything in anymore. Tyler groaned again and threw the book off his bed, across the room. Josh looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. 

 

"What's up, Ty?" Josh asked, and Tyler shrugged. 

 

"I don't know. The stupid book is really bummin' me out, you know? Just - I can't read it anymore," Tyler said, and Josh nodded in understanding. 

 

"I get it, dude. That book is really sad. Weird how they all, like, eat each other or whatever. I'm not really that far in, but I've read about it on the Internet. Freaky stuff," Josh said wisely, and Tyler nodded sagely. And then he registered what Josh had said, and he turned his head to Josh, frowning. 

 

"Wait, what? I thought your parents didn't even really let you use the Internet that much, like, at all," Tyler said, and Josh's eyes widened as he flushed with embarrassment. He grinned awkwardly, though. 

 

"Yeah, I, um...I used the main computer in the family room when they were out at one of Jordan's games. Um. Please don't tell my parents," Josh said, a note of anxiety coming into his voice. Tyler shook his head, reaching down and squeezing one of Josh's hands quickly. 

 

"Nah, man, of course I won't tell. Seriously, who do you think I am?" Tyler joked softly, nudging Josh's arm with his elbow as best he could while lying down. 

 

See, Josh had anxiety. Like, _really_ bad anxiety. Tyler had learned pretty quickly after meeting him that making lighthearted jokes (i.e. "Yeah, dude, of course I'm telling on you,") went down badly and gave Josh anxiety, even if he knew Tyler was joking. Tyler didn't ever want Josh to be uncomfortable in any way, so he'd stopped making those jokes with him. Tyler was fine with that. As long as Josh was happy. 

 

Josh smiled gratefully at Tyler, and then sighed contentedly, closing his pretty mocha almond-shaped eyes, his long dark lashes brushing his cheeks. 

 

It was a sight Tyler could look at forever. 


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tyler and josh at school??? idk man

Tyler stared ahead blankly, his head propped on a curled fist. His eyes drooped and his fingers drummed out a restless beat on his beat-up wooden desk. 

 

It was sixth period History, and Tyler had just about had it up to here with school for today. His brain was overloaded with information, he couldn't take anything more in, and he felt like dying. 

 

So, really, just a normal day at Olentangy Orange High School. 

 

Tyler sighed. He couldn't wait to go home and finish his homework so he could write lyrics or practice his keyboard or hang out with Josh. Tyler really couldn't stand History. Sure, his teacher was really awesome and he found the subject interesting sometimes, but it was always hard to remember dates and AP World History was way harder than the normal history most kids took. Sometimes, he hated being smart, because he didn't want to be in mostly AP classes. It had so much more work and, really, was it even worth it? Tyler knew what he wanted to do when he grew up, and that was be a musician. He'd only figured out what he wanted to do a couple of weeks ago, but once he'd come to the decision that he wanted to be in the music industry, he knew that was the right choice for him. It was only fitting. 

 

And, really, what would a college education do for Tyler if he was playing shows all the time? He was already smart enough to make it through life. What was the point of continuing his education further after high school?  
  


But, really, he had these thoughts all the time, and he knew he couldn't _not_ go to college. His parents wanted him to get the best education he could, and Tyler understood that and wanted to make them proud. Tyler let out an internal sigh. Sometimes, being a high schooler with demanding parents was difficult. 

 

Trying to take his mind off of school for a bit, Tyler's thoughts turned to Josh. 

 

Sixth period was one of the many classes he didn't have with Josh. He only had fourth period and second period with Josh, and then he had to power through all of his other classes by himself. 

 

Sure, he had other friends; Tyler was on the basketball team and was friends with nearly everyone there, especially since his dad was the coach. He was - well, he was popular. Not, like, _super_ popular, but still. Popular enough. 

 

Josh was Tyler's best friend, though. The friend he'd do anything for. The friend he'd go to the moon for. The friend he'd die for. 

 

They did nearly everything together. They'd been best friends since two years ago, when Tyler had met Josh in 8th grade. At first, Tyler had thought that Josh had been annoyingly quiet and nerdy, but he'd grown to love him in the few weeks that he started talking to him. Tyler had developed a crush on him within two months, and now, two years later, Tyler was sure he was in love with him. He sighed. 

 

High school was going great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYYY SO SECOND CHAPTER YO.............Thanks for all the views and kudos and comments tf?????? i love u guys sm yall r great!!! ill try to update frequently and stuff, but if i dont i have tumblr and if u want u can come yell at me to update on there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> heres my tumblr: http://cliffpeaks.tumblr.com/


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> theyre doing homework 2gether yall

Tyler sighed as he wrote down yet another math problem. His homework was getting quite tedious, and he didn't understand half of the math he was being taught. He put his pencil down and scrubbed at his eyes with fatigue. 

 

He and Josh were doing their homework together, an event that they partook in often. They were lying on Josh's bedroom floor side-by-side, their legs intertwined. Tyler felt Josh wiggle his toes as he worked on his English paper. Tyler's eyes flicked to Josh for a second, taking him in. 

 

His pretty brown orbs were trained down at his paper, his pink tongue sticking out with concentration. He sniffed, his nose crinkling up for a second before he blinked and continued with his work. 

 

His dark curls hung forwards in his eyes, and even as Tyler watched, Josh reached up with one calloused hand and brushed it away lightly. Tyler felt a strange lurch in his stomach; like if Josh hadn't brushed his hair away, Tyler would have for him. Tyler blinked with bewilderment and dismissal and looked back down at his own math problems. Tyler groaned. He was supposed to be the one who was good at math, yet this was stumping him beyond compare. Maybe he just needed a brain break. 

 

Tyler set his pencil down again, laying his head down on his paper and groaning. Josh looked over at him and grinned his trademark white-toothed smile - the smile that Tyler could look at for hours and hours. Really, Tyler was annoyed with himself. Love was annoying. He didn't even know if Josh was anything other than straight, and here he was, falling in love with his best friend of two years. His _best friend._ Who did Tyler think he was, really? It was an inconvenience (but, Tyler thought, the best inconvenience he'd ever experienced). 

 

"Having math troubles?" Josh laughed, breaking Tyler out of his reverie. Tyler's eyes immediately went to Josh's white as hell teeth as his face flushed. 

 

"Yeah, I...yeah. Math troubles," Tyler said, looking down and playing with his hands. He felt more than saw (because his eyes were trained downwards) Josh scoot closer to him in order to see his paper. Tyler tried to fight down his blush (which was very annoying). 

 

"Let's see," Josh said, leaning over Tyler's paper. "You need to carry the five here, and you need to remember to multiply the exponent, not add. And subtract this here and divide this here. Simple," Josh said, laughing and nudging Tyler's shoulder with his own. Tyler looked down, smiling, and rolled his eyes. 

 

"Yeah. And I'm supposed to be the math genius here," Tyler said, and Josh laughed, shaking his head. He scooted himself farther forwards with his elbows, propped his head on his hands, and smiled, eyes wide, at Tyler, who snorted at Josh's expression. Josh laughed too, his wide eyes quickly disappearing in crinkles and cheeks as the corners of his mouth pulled up. Tyler sort of forgot to breathe for a second, kind of. 

 

"It's my title now, fool," Josh said jokingly, and then turned his eyes down towards Tyler's paper again. "Hey, look, I'm basically done with my English thing, so why don't I help you with this? I'm obviously better at this than you are," Josh joked, and Tyler stuck his tongue out at him. Josh grinned, looking down again. 

 

"Okay, so this is basically all just memorization...."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOOOOO THANX 4 THE KUDOS AS ALWAYS BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> hey so new story boys  
> i had an acct on here before but i deleted so....ya


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